


Fight or Flight, Am I Right?

by starstruck_xavier



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders Has Panic Attacks, Crying, EVERYONE NEEDS A HUG IN THIS, Hurt Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Hurt Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Hurt/Comfort, Imagination, LAMP/CALM - Freeform, Lamp - Freeform, Logan has emotions, M/M, Major injuries, Mild Fluff, Panic Attacks, Passing Out, Sad Patton, calm, everyone is sad, injuries, major injuries mentioned, manticore-chimera, mindscape, remus mentioned, ships can be viewed as platonic or romantic, thomas' friends mentioned, virgil gets into a fight with the manticore-chimera, virgil sits on surfaces that aren't meant to be sat on
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:21:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23845882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starstruck_xavier/pseuds/starstruck_xavier
Summary: TW for blood mentionWhen Virgil is feeling down, a dangerous, painful manticore-chimera fight turns out to be exactly what he needs.(Fic has been edited because I didn't check it enough oof)
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders
Comments: 3
Kudos: 120





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy what I wrote here! My tumblr is starstruck-xavier for anybody who wants to check out the sanders sides content I feature on there.

Virgil had been feeling off-colour recently. It hadn’t been anything major, only the mild anxiety that came from Thomas thinking about his friends who were starting to move away and take different paths in life. Of course, he still had Joan and Talyn, they weren’t going anywhere any time soon, but some of his other friends had already gone elsewhere and Thomas was reduced to video calls and texts. In fact, right now Thomas was texting Terrence, missing him as always, but today the feeling was exemplified due to the amount of dwelling he had done over the whole situation. Virgil curled into a ball on the couch, up in the confines of the mind palace, sighing into a pout as he picked at the loose threads on his jacket and pondered depressingly on what once was.

He knew that it was impossible to have Thomas’ friends around him at all times; they had all already done a video in which the sides all transformed into Joan, Talyn, Terrence and Valerie each before Thomas finally decided that he can keep up with his friends in different ways. That didn’t stop the melancholy from Thomas missing his loved ones creeping into the atmosphere of the mind palace, however. While Virgil didn’t seem much more disgruntled than usual, it was surely rubbing off on the other sides. Even Patton didn’t have as much a bounce in his step as usual when he walked through the common room.

“Hey, kiddo, are you feeling alright?” Patton feigned energy in his voice as he crouched to face Virgil, who lifted his head a little from his hunched position to meet the father figment’s eyes. “I’m about to go prepare some spaghetti for later. Ooh, Virge! What do you call a fake noodle?” The anxious trait awaited the answer, watching as Patton broke out into a cheesy grin. “An impasta!” Patton clamped his hand onto one of Virgil’s legs, which was starting to numb in the constrictive position Virgil was in, to prevent himself from falling backwards as he laughed at his own joke. Virgil couldn’t help but smile too. He’d never heard that one before. As the two brightened up, the melancholy vibes in Thomas’ head began to weaken.

Patton eventually composed himself, standing up straight again when his legs cramped in his crouched position. “Are you feeling a little down, Kylo Friend?” he questioned, concern dusted across his features. Patton had a tendency to see right through the other sides when they tried to lie about their emotions, seeing as he encompassed morality and had his fair share of feelings, knowing what many of them felt and looked like. Recalling this information, Virgil bit his tongue before he could say he was okay.

“I suppose,” Virgil finally decided his positioning was uncomfortable and shifted his legs so that they hung over the arm of the couch. Then, he thought for a second. “Thomas is feeling sad because he misses his friends, which posits the question; are you feeling down, Pat?”

The paternal trait’s smile faltered just a little. “Well, I guess I’m not feeling my absolute best right now, but I’m working hard to get back to my usual self again. Don’t worry about me, kiddo. You should focus on making yourself feel better. In fact,” He presented to Virgil his black fidget cube with a flourish. “Here you go, Virge. I’d better start cooking!”

Virgil took the cube with a silent thanks and watched as Patton bounded over to the kitchen. Over the calming sound of the buttons on his cube, he heard a very faint “Oh hey, Logan!”, followed by vaguely audible conversation. This took Virgil by surprise just a little; he may have been too busy drowning in his sorrows to see Logan cross the common room, or perhaps he was there before Virgil entered the room, which sounded odd. As he thought about it, the man in question strolled out of the kitchen with a coffee mug in hand, crossing the room to set it on the table in front of the couch. Virgil once again repositioned his limbs to not face completely away from Logan as he sat beside him.

“Hi, Logan.”

“Greetings, Virgil.” Logan sipped his still steaming coffee, eyeing the fidget cube for only a moment. “Are you feeling disconcerted over Thomas’ nostalgic memories of his friends?”

Virgil stayed silent for a second, turning the cube to spin the joystick around counter-clockwise. “I… I guess, yeah, I just… never thought of it that way. I thought I was just feeling bad because Thomas is missing Terrence.”

The logical trait hummed thoughtfully. “It is true that Thomas is feeling more sentimental than on average over his long-distance friendships, but that is because he is nostalgizing about being in the physical presence of his friends. He is longing for the past, which, in the case of a habitual worrier, directly affects how you’re feeling. Would you like me to remind him of this so that he can instead focus on the here and now?”

“Yeah,” Virgil smiled gratefully. “That’d be nice. Thank you, Logan.”

“In the meantime, Virgil, remember the breathing technique we’ve learned and perhaps listen to some music with those large headphones of yours to prevent any further nervous feelings.” Logan nodded his head towards the anxious trait before sinking out into the real world.

Virgil stretched out his legs and arms, standing up in hopes of finally returning to the confines of his own room and perhaps feeling a little better. As he meandered over to his own room, his heart began to beat a little faster. Logan was never the best at preventing Thomas from nostalgizing, but eventually, Thomas would come around, so this anxiety was only going to last a short while. Virgil finally realised why Logan had told him to remember to breathe. He leaned against the wall, a hand over his heart, sucking air into his lungs at timed intervals. He could do this.

The sound of a door swinging open accompanied by loud singing quickly cut Virgil’s exhale short. The resident prince appeared in Virgil’s misty peripheral, belting out some random Disney song until he finally noticed who he had scared the life out of.

“Hey, sunshine! Whatcha doing over there?” Roman strode across the hallway to meet Virgil, peering curiously into his eyes.

“Uh, breathing, hopefully.” After the small scare, Virgil’s heart had returned back to where it was before, which was still not good. It appeared that Logan was still trying to make Thomas focus on the present and future. His anxious demeanour became apparent to Roman, who thought for a moment before visibly having an idea.

“Ah, come with me, Virge. I’ll assist you in quelling your anxiety.” The royal trait took Virgil’s hand, bringing him into his own room, across from Virgil’s. The anxious trait couldn’t help but notice the extra door in the room as Roman sat him down on the bed. Apart from that, the room looked as extravagant as anyone would have expected. Theatre awards lined the shelves, the walls were caked with posters and words painted in cursive saying stuff like "Believe in yourself”, which Virgil would definitely make fun of Roman for once he calmed down.

“Now, Virge, remember the technique.” Roman’s voice softened considerably as he began to count to four, Virgil inhaling accordingly. Then, he held his breath as Roman counted to seven, finally exhaling a little raggedly as he counted to eight. This continued for a few minutes until Virgil’s weary heart began to beat more slowly. The tense feeling that gripped his shoulders lessened, allowing him to sit up from his hunched posture. He nodded to Roman, a confirmation that the technique had worked.

“Thank you, Roman.” Virgil softly sighed, merely feeling his fidget cube in his hand rather than doing anything with it.

“No problem, my storm. Say, do you have any other plans today? If not, I think you would feel much better after taking a stroll with me through my most recent imaginative world. What do you say?” Roman held out his hand again dramatically, waiting for Virgil to think it over.

Roman had always been making extra little mindscapes inside Thomas’ and could create non-playable characters, bosses and secrets, but Virgil had never been inside one of his worlds. He was always too nervous to try after one incident when Roman returned with a large wound in his side. The resident prince had insisted that it was an accident, that one of Remus’ creatures infiltrated his side of the imagination, which only made Virgil’s fear worse as he didn’t want to encounter the duke again.

“I’ll make sure that Remus doesn’t get in our way, sunshine.” It was as if Roman read his mind, taking both of his hands as a sign of promise.

“…Okay, fine. But if one of us gets hurt, it’s your fault.”

—

Roman’s world looked like a real-life version of an RPG medieval village. Cobbled roads led to various dwellings, market stalls and blacksmiths as villagers milled around with their children, making friendly conversation with each other. The sky was a pleasant blue with a few clouds dotted about, drifting noiselessly over the scene. Roman briefly explained the mission he was on - to retrieve a pearl necklace from the confines of a cave where the mighty manticore-chimera dozes.

“We shall work together to distract the beast, and either we will defeat it, or we will retrieve the necklace and leave the beast alive. We don’t have to defeat it, but we get to take its treasures if we do.” Roman grinned towards Virgil, quickly noticing his terrified expression. “Ah— although, of course, even if we don’t retrieve the necklace our quest will not be a failure, my storm. If anything, I may be able to strategise better, for I have attempted to take on this quest by myself many times before. I will hold our safety as my top priority here, so do not worry about getting hurt.” Virgil still didn’t look ready to take on the quest, but he nodded in agreement anyway. The two began to trek towards the cave a while away from the village.

“Hey, uh, Roman?” Virgil spoke unsurely, his legs beginning to shake ever so slightly as the cave grew larger in his vision. “When you get hurt on these quests, is it, like, painful?”

“Oh, yes, most certainly. Why do you ask?”

“Oh, I mean— that wasn’t the answer I wanted, to be entirely honest.”

Roman noted the slight quiver in Virgil’s voice, feeling a twinge of guilt as he realised that perhaps this would have the opposite effect on his anxiety levels that he intended. He squeezed Virgil’s hand reassuringly, lacing their fingers together. “You’ll be okay, sunshine, I promise. If you don’t wish to participate you can sit outside and admire the scenery. I’ve been training for months to defeat the manticore-chimera, I think I’m strong enough to take it on.”

“But what if you get badly hurt?” The two stopped before the mouth of the cave. A feeling of dread settled itself onto Virgil’s heart like a weighted blanket while Roman led him to a large rock to sit on.

“I’m confident that I will be just fine, Virge. However, if you think I’m in trouble, summon Patton or Logan into my room and they’ll know what to do.” The prince let go of Virgil’s hand and brought him into a tight embrace, hoping to pass on some of his courage to the anxious trait. Then, he pulled away and began his quest to infiltrate the cave.

It was so dark in there that Virgil couldn’t see what was going on, much less a mighty beast, so he sat on the large rock, picking up smaller stones and trying to carve into the surface, writing and doodling shakily. After about three minutes, which felt like three hours, he couldn’t sit still anymore and began to wear footprints into the track leading to the cave. He continuously walked back and forth, occasionally stopping to listen for any sign of Roman needing help. He was almost bouncing on his feet to relieve himself of the tension.

Virgil remembered the night when Logan had brought Roman back from his quest, looking extremely dishevelled. He saw the blood staining Roman’s shirt and almost fainted at the sight. Roman never experienced any long term effects after that night, but it had left a mental scar on Virgil as he immediately retreated to his room to cry for hours on end, hopelessly worried for his prince’s safety. Tears began to sting his eyes as he continued to pace in circles, wondering if the quietness from the cave would be a good excuse to summon the others.

His train of thought was immediately cut short by the roar of the beast.

Virgil raced to the mouth of the cave, watching in frozen terror as the manticore-chimera stretched out its many limbs and heads with a shrieking battle cry. Roman, caught off guard, had been pinned against the wall by the snake component of the monster, fumbling for his sword until the snake suddenly sank its teeth into his right shoulder, eliciting a pained shout.

The next few minutes were a blur. Virgil ran to Roman’s side in record time, took his sword from its sheath and swung down blindly, seemingly hitting the snake as another screech bounced off the walls. He sprinted to the other side of the cave, just to get the beast away from Roman, only just missing a swing from the horns of the goat head. At one point he tripped onto the ground but he didn’t feel a thing, only continuing to sprint until he slammed himself into the wall of the cave, peering across to see the royal trait stumbling towards him.

“Roman, get the others!” Virgil’s voice distorted and echoed, travelling swiftly to Roman’s ears. He didn’t wait to watch him leave the cave as a massive paw slammed into his side, sending him sliding across the rough ground. The burning in his skin went undetected as the adrenaline took full control. Virgil blindly sliced and stabbed with his sword while skirting around the area, a bright white pearl catching his eye. Without a second thought, he snatched the jewellery from where it hung on a jutted piece of rock in the wall, running, running, just trying to find his way out. Another giant paw caught the hood of his jacket, sending him falling backwards, face to face with the monster, missing its snake’s head. Flight switched to fight - Virgil took a firm grip of Roman’s sword and aimed perfectly for the lion’s eye. The beast screamed painfully, stumbling backwards and spilling blood over its fur, allowing Virgil to get up again and run, running for his life, still not feeling anything, getting closer to the exit, catching a glimpse of his friends in the light.

The last thing he remembered before fainting was the sound of Patton’s scream and the feeling of falling.

—

If he couldn’t feel anything that was happening to him before, he definitely could now.

“Roman, do you realise that such an activity would’ve had the adverse effect of what you were intending?” A blurry voice cut into his consciousness. Virgil opened his eyes slowly, finding himself back in the mind palace. Patton's watery face came into focus, and he realised that his head was in the father figment’s lap, on the couch. Meanwhile, he could hear Logan lecturing Roman from across the room. He attempted to shuffle his body onto its side, to look for Roman, but the burning pain in his left side elicited a pained cry from him which, despite being quite quiet, immediately attracted everyone’s attention.

“Hey, Virge,” Patton pulled him back to his original position, speaking in that soft way he does just after crying. “You’re back in the mind palace, you’re all safe now.”

The sound of Roman and Logan’s footsteps grew closer until Roman fell onto his knees by the couch, taking one of Virgil’s thinly bandaged hands into both of his own. “I’m so sorry, my sunshine! I didn’t mean for anybody to get hurt. I made a fatal mistake, awakening the beast, I should’ve just done side quests with you instead, I’m such a fool, I—“

“Calm down, Princey.” Virgil turned his head to look at Roman’s puffy eyes, trying to ignore the shot of pain in his muscles. “I’m not mad at you. I’m glad I was able to save you.” His voice croaked with pain. "If I hadn’t…”

“…You would’ve incurred much more serious injuries, Roman.” Logan piped up, sitting next to Patton as an offering of comfort. “To the point where you may have had to spend a long time in recovery before you could go into the imagination again. I think that Virgil made a valiant effort in the cave and made good use of his fight-or-flight reflexes, however, prolonged use of such reflexes can result in micro-tears in the muscle tissue, meaning you’ll be hurting for some time, Virge. Your function as Thomas’ anxiety is not inhibited, and your injuries inflicted by the fight will heal within a few weeks to a month, but you’ll be experiencing some additional muscle pain and fatigue for only a few days.”

Roman still looked incredibly remorseful, sniffling loudly and scrubbing at his eyes with his left hand, facing the floor. That was when Virgil finally noticed; Roman was not in his usual royal attire, instead wearing a fitting white t-shirt and black basketball shorts. A large patch poked out from under the neck of his shirt, indicating that his snake bite had been taken care of. Virgil also realised his own lack of the usual jacket. He craned his head painfully to see a comfortable pair of sweatpants, then his oversized lilac t-shirt. His legs felt numb on the outside, but at the same time, the pain sunk deep into his bones. He let his head fall back onto Patton’s leg, still facing Roman.

“Don’t cry, Ro.” Virgil attempted a kind smile, but it seemed that his words made Roman even more upset. “I can deal with some muscle pain for a while. I can’t deal with you being in a full-body cast, unable to do any work. Sometimes I just need an adrenaline rush, anyways. Keeps me on guard.” The prince looked up at Virgil with a slight teary smile.

“And we’ll help you both through your injuries, kiddos. I’m just glad you’re both right here.” Patton began to card his fingers through Virgil’s hair, leaning into Logan slightly. “I can’t imagine how tough it would be if any one of us was hurt as badly as you could’ve been, Roman. I’m gonna need you to promise me that you’ll be more careful in the future.” at that, Roman nodded profusely, his tears getting swiped away by the heels of his hands.

Logan reached for the small table right by the end of the couch where he sat, presenting a bunch of tissues to Roman. “You need to use these, Roman, or you’ll agitate your skin.” His voice also softened, feeling touched by this moment. Virgil watched him scrunch a spare tissue into his hand, a wet glistening behind his glasses that he seldom saw. Perhaps it was the amount of sap drooping over the room, or the feeling of his fellow sides in danger sinking in for him, but Logan was still trying to steel his expression, as he usually did. One second of eye contact between him and Virgil, and suddenly the dam broke, and everybody pooled together into a teary hug, careful not to hurt each other. Virgil found himself being manoeuvred gently into a sitting up position, able to sink into the space between Patton and Logan, leaning his head onto Logan’s shoulder. He heard the uncommon yet unmistakeable snivel from Logan as his arm fit snug between Virgil’s back and the comfortable couch. Patton pulled Roman up carefully, allowing him to sit on his lap as his arms draped across the pile of comfort. There everyone sat, taking in the moment for a few minutes until Virgil let out a sleepy yawn.

“Let’s get you two into your beds to rest, kiddos.” Patton helped Roman to a stand, his arm tightly around his waist as the two began the walk to Roman’s room. Meanwhile, Logan quickly stood and lifted Virgil, holding him firmly in his arms. After confirming that he wasn’t hurting him, Logan joined Patton and Roman up to the corridor which led to each room. Gradually, they each began to filter through their own doors; Patton allowed Roman to make the walk to his bed after giving him a tight hug and many words of reassurance, and Logan laid Virgil onto his bed before tucking the covers around him. Everybody bid each other goodnight, feeling certainly rattled but nevertheless loving towards each other.


	2. Two

“Good morning, Virge!” Patton chirruped as Virgil shuffled into the kitchen roughly 10 hours later. The fatherly trait donned his cat hoodie instead of the regular blue polo; Virgil pondered over whether today would be a much more relaxed day than normal. As for himself, he was still wearing his sweatpants and lilac t-shirt; its sleeves nearly swallowed his elbows and the bottom hem hung just above his knees, but it was comfortable, so the anxious trait didn’t mind its size. The pain was still burning mainly in his abdomen, arms and legs, but not quite as bad as last night, so he clambered onto the countertop by the fridge, wincing just a little. Normally, Patton would encourage him to sit somewhere else while he prepared food, but he let him have this today. Just this once.  
  


The paternal trait came to retrieve something from the fridge, taking the opportunity to check on Virgil. “How are you feeling, kiddo? Can I check your bruises?” Virgil nodded, shrinking into himself self-consciously for a moment before straightening up to allow Patton to look. He didn’t particularly want to see the damage on his own body, instead turning to fixate on the reflection of the light on the fridge as Patton lifted up his t-shirt and felt around the hurting areas. Occasionally Virgil would lightly hiss at the touch, and the father figment would ramble his apologies, looking just slightly squeamish as he ensured that there were no serious injuries that had been missed when they were all tending to his unconscious self. Eventually, Patton let the shirt fall over Virgil’s body again, moving onto his hands and confirming that they were healing up nicely. Then, he looked for any bruising on his upper arms and shoulders (perhaps this was just him reassuring himself).  
  


As he finished his drawn-out checkup, Logan and Roman entered the kitchen. Roman still wore his comfortable clothes, too. Even Logan was wearing something different this morning - a dark blue long-sleeve covered with doodles of planets and astronauts, complimenting his plain black pyjama pants. Today was definitely going to be relaxed. While Logan began to assist Patton in food preparation, Roman joined Virgil on the countertop.  
  


“How’s the damage, Hot Topic?” Roman felt the medical patch on his shoulder with his left hand, frowning a little despite the usual energy he had tried to convey in his voice.  
  


Virgil shrugged as best he could without feeling a spike of pain. “I haven’t really looked, but I feel bruised. I can only guess from my memory of what happened.” He glanced at the prince’s downcast expression. “How’s your shoulder?”  
  


“Well, Logan said that the snake bite hit muscle but not bone, so it’s not as bad as it could be. It’s a good thing I’m ambidextrous though.” The sight of Roman looking so sombre broke Virgil’s heart just a little bit.  
  


“Do you wanna play video games later? Your choice.” He nervously placed his bandaged hand on Roman’s uninjured shoulder, a comfort offering. The prince nodded, leaning into Virgil’s touch. They stayed on the counter, watching Logan and Patton at work until breakfast was ready for everybody.  
  


Now sat in a chair after hopping off the countertop, Virgil picked at the meal, holding his fork as best he could.  
  


“I think that we should all talk to Thomas today and update him on the situation.” Logan announced, watching everybody for a sign of protest, but received none, so he continued. “We’re not yet sure if he’s experiencing any second-hand effects.”  
  


“He won’t have a creative block, will he, specs?” Roman glanced nervously around, switching his cutlery between his two hands.  
  


“I doubt it, Roman. However, sometimes taking a break from brainstorming can yield even better ideas in the future. Despite the circumstances, this is a good opportunity to recharge, if you will, to prevent burnout.”  
  


Roman looked a little more comforted. Light conversation ensued, travelling away from the looming situation back to how breakfast usually went. Bad jokes, laughs and groans filled the air. The two injured sides forgot about their miseries as they all discussed plans for the day and refuelled their bodies.  
  


They all gradually dispersed after eating, Virgil being the last to finish as he tried not to cramp his bruised hands by holding the utensils. Roman waited for him nevertheless, his left hand returning to his right shoulder.  
  


“You look sad, Roman.” Virgil turned to face him, reaching out to tap his hands on Roman’s left arm to stop him from picking at the patch. “If it’s hurting, I can get, like, a heat patch for you. I have some in my room.”  
  


“Yeah?” Roman smiled gratefully, still with a hint of sadness in his eyes. “That’d be nice. That time I was wounded in my side, I learned how draining having that pain can be. But, while my injuries this time around aren’t that bad, I still feel just as bad because I let you get hurt too.”  
  


“It’s okay, Ro. When Thomas was feeling so down yesterday, it was likely getting to me because it had been a while since I had that adrenaline rush. Besides, I could’ve stayed out and summoned the others instead, but I went in because my instinct was to keep you safe. Like I said last night, I can deal with some muscle pain. I have to, sometimes.”  
  


“You have to?” The two got up from their chairs and made their way through the house.  
  


“Yeah. You may not expect me to enjoy adrenaline, but if I can’t exercise my fight-or-flight instincts for a while I start to feel tired or lethargic. Then I end up not being prepared when something external makes Thomas panic. I was reluctant to join you at first yesterday because I didn’t know if I had the energy for it, and usually, I’d just do something like getting Thomas to watch a scary movie to give me a little more power for a while, but that fight I had really helped to restore my energy. Really, once my muscles feel fine again I’m gonna feel so much better at my job. You helped me out, Princey.” The anxious trait noticed how Roman’s face brightened and couldn’t help grinning.  
  


He led Roman to the purple door with his signature stormcloud printed onto it, then rummaged through his drawers for the heat patches. He grabbed a few for himself before peeling off the back cover of one, fumbling through his thinly bandaged hands. During this time, the prince sat on Virgil’s unmade bed and watched him prepare the patch. “I’ll stick it onto your t-shirt, it’s not recommended directly on the skin.” The anxious trait crouched in front of Roman and touched his shoulder with great care, applying it onto the fabric which covered the patch. “The heat will last for about eight hours, but if it gets too hot you can just peel it off, yeah?”  
  


“Yeah.” Roman nodded, looking brighter than before. “Thank you, Virge.”  
  


Virgil straightened up again with a nod, quickly pulled a black long-sleeve from a different drawer and put it on underneath his t-shirt, which was easy to do without taking it off due to the size of it, then began to apply his own patches in between the two layers. He stuck one to each side of his ribs before gathering the plastic packaging and depositing it into a wastebasket. The heat helped both of them, providing comfort to Roman’s shoulder and relief to Virgil’s sides.  
  


The feeling of being summoned suddenly tugged at both of them. “That’ll be Logan and Patton.” Roman grinned. “I’ll see you there, stormcloud.”  
  


—  
  


Roman rose up in front of the television and Virgil appeared by the staircase, both at the same time.  
  


“Hey, guys!” Thomas excitedly looked around. “I’m so glad you two are safe! Logan and Patton have just brought me up to speed.”  
  


“Greetings, Thomas!” Roman instantly adapted his royal persona, only slightly hindered by his injury. “It is great to be back.”  
  


“Hey, Thomas.” Virgil said, suddenly feeling a little nervous. “Are you… physically okay?”  
  


“Yeah, I’m not feeling pain or anything, although I did feel very panicky, I assume when you were in that fight.”  
  


A pang of guilt was felt in Virgil’s heart. “O— oh, I’m sorry, Thomas, I didn’t realise—“  
  


“No, no, it’s okay, Virge. I called some friends and was able to take care of it. I could tell from the feeling that you were in trouble and you couldn’t control it. I’m just happy you’re okay. Or, at least, safe. Are you okay, Virgil?” Thomas glanced at the anxious side, noticing how he wrapped his arms around his abdomen.  
  


He hummed uncertainly. “I’m in a lot of pain, but I’ve experienced it before.” Upon curious looks from everybody except Roman, he recounted what he was saying to the prince before. As he finished, Logan seemed to think for a moment.  
  


“Perhaps, in the future, we should work with Roman in the imagination to make an area in which Virgil can exercise his fight-or-flight without running the risk of injury.”  
  


“That’s a great idea, Logan!” Patton exclaimed, looking towards Roman to see what he thought. “Do you think you can do that, Roman?”  
  


“Yes,” Roman pondered, already thinking of ideas. “I think that would be fantastic! Virgil and I can construct a safe zone within the imagination. How do you feel about that, stormcloud?”  
  


Virgil nodded, feeling a little better. “Yeah, let’s do that once we’re both fully healed.”  
  


“And after I’ve beaten you at every video game in existence.”  
  


“Sure, Sir Sing-A-Lot.”


End file.
